Cross Creek Ranch Sprouts Sustainable Tree Farm

With well over 2,400 homes sold since its inception in 2008, Cross Creek Ranch has seen significant growth in the number of homes, amenities and residents. But growth of a different kind has been happening on a quiet 40 acres tucked into the community’s western boundary — a tree farm, now marking its 10^th year.

The tree farm is typically home to about 2,500 trees of varying sizes at any one time, with the dominant varieties being live oak, bald cypress, loblolly pine, nuttall oak and red maple. Once grown to a size that can be transplanted, the trees are used to supplement the 3,200-acre community that has already been developed. Cross Creek Ranch General Manager Rob Bamford estimates more than 1,500 trees have been moved into open spaces of Cross Creek Ranch.

“This is a great cost-saving move for any community, especially one that will have as many trees as Cross Creek Ranch,” he said. “We are able to purchase very young saplings and seedlings and let them mature for several years until they can be transplanted.”

Many of the current seedlings in the tree farm will be used to landscape the final phase of Flewellen Creek, under construction now. Approximately 4,500 trees have been planted along the already restored portions of the creek, and Bamford estimates about 10,000 trees will ultimately adorn the landscape, provide shade along the trails and be home to nesting birds when the linear park is complete.

An arborist manages the Cross Creek Ranch tree farm, routinely observing the health of the trees, performing any needed pruning and adding fertilization to encourage growth. Like much of Cross Creek Ranch, the farm is irrigated to withstand periods of no rain.

Bamford, who also initiated a tree farm at another Houston development years ago, said the majority of communities do not have the luxury of growing their own trees.

“First, you have to have the real estate to do it,” he said. “And you need a long enough development cycle that you can dedicate acreage for a significant amount of time to the project without interfering with the introduction of new neighborhoods or amenities.”

Bamford said Cross Creek Ranch has about five years of active development remaining, and the tree farm will most likely one day be transformed into park space, a neighborhood and other community features.

“A tree farm is a good use of land, and a sustainable, environmentally friendly feature of the type of development we are doing here in Cross Creek Ranch,” he said.

Located in Fulshear, Cross Creek Ranch recently won the People’s Choice Award in the Urban Land Institutes 2016 Development of Distinction Awards. It features homes by 12 builders priced from the $270,000s.